The Snohomish, Suquamish and other Native Americans were
the original founders of this Pacific Northwest area, later named Seattle
after Native American headsman Chief Sealth. In the fall of 1851, the Denny
Party landed on what is now Alki Point (now home to Alki Point Lighthouse)
in West Seattle. After surviving one cold, harrowing winter, these first
white settlers moved east across Elliott Bay to settle in the sheltered
area that is now downtown Seattle.

Timber became the economic mainstay of this new community. The lush Pacific
Northwest offered an abundance of big evergreen trees that settlers cut
and sold for lumber. With the communitys newly created wealth came an interest
in higher education. The University of Washington was established in 1861
and then moved to its present location in 1895. It remains the states largest
educational institution.

Once the railroad reached nearby Tacoma in 1883, the citys population exploded.
Six years later almost everything Seattleites had built was lost in the
Great Fire of June 1889. Seattle proclaimed itself a phoenix that would
rise from the ashes, and by the end of that year, the city constructed 130
new brick buildings atop the burned-out shell of the old city. Today, you
can view the ruins of the original buildings on the Underground Tour.

The 1890s were a period of rebirth, and the Yukon and Alaskan gold rushes
helped move the city forward economically. As gateway to virtually
uninhabited Alaska, Seattle was a major supplier of food and provisions to
prospectors departing to brave the wilds in search of gold. Those who
struck it rich spent freely on their way back through Seattle.

In 1907 the Pike Place Public Farmers Market opened and remains a top tourist
attraction today. By 1910 the population had grown to nearly 230,000, and
steamers were used to ferry people and products across the bay. Electric
trolleys arrived in 1919, improving transportation between sprawling urban
areas. Bits and pieces of highway followed. The economic boom took a new
turn in 1916 when Bill Boeing tested his companys first plane. Since World
War II, the regions economy has relied on the aerospace industry. Boeing
developed the 707 commercial jet that changed commercial air travel.

The 1960s brought the 1962 Worlds Fair, the Space Needle, the Monorail and
Elvis. Seattle became a destination spot for tourists, and the population
continued to swell. Construction of Interstate 5 continued through downtown,
and the ferryboat Kalakala was considered the ultimate in high-tech water
transportation.

The 1980s and 90s brought a fledgling company called Microsoft, a seller
of gourmet coffee called Starbucks, Safeco Field, a state-of-the-art baseball
stadium with retractable roof, and top-rate biotech companies. Today, this
cosmopolitan city nestled between mountains and lakes remains home to Microsoft,
Boeing, Starbucks, Nintendo, Nordstrom, Immunex and many other internationally
competitive companies.